Over the years, there has been considerable prior art for bipod devices, that date back to pre-20th century times, with bipods having a familiar appearance, structure and configuration.
For example, the known prior art includes but is not limited to U.S. Pat. Nos. 271,251; 1,295,688; 1,355,660; 1,382,409; 1,580,406; 2,386,802; 2,420,267; 2,436,349, and 3,235,997. These patents disclose the respective art in relation to bipods, but do not disclose a fore grip or gun handle with a concealable and collapsible bipod.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,487,807 describes a tripod gun handle that provides a combination pistol grip and pivotal tripod. An examination of this patent reveals a number of problems with this device, and the most obvious problem is that the tripod legs are positioned on the exterior of the handle when not deployed. If the gun with this device attached was being used in wet or muddy environments, either in a deployed or storage position, the ingress of mud and dirt into and around the handle could result in the deployment and storage of the tripod legs being severely restricted due to the mud or foreign matter. Another problem is that deployment requires the rotation of a disengagement cam to force the legs into their deployed position and then a leg locking assembly is rotated to lock the legs into a locked position. Two separate actions are required to deploy and lock the tripod legs into a locked position.
A problem with these bipods and leg stands is that the stands are generally locked in a fixed position, which means an operator would have to physically move the entire stand such as cant, tilt and/or physically raise the stand to adjust firearm to fire a shot. Such physical movements of having to physically cant, tilt and/or lift the stand would be naturally uncomfortable to the operator. In addition such physical movements can cause the firearm to be forced to be held in an unsteady position were it is difficult and potentially impossible to be able to fire a reliable shot at an intended target.
The inventors of the subject invention have to date patented at least one U.S. Pat. No. 7,111,424 to Gaddini. This patent includes a replaceable mounting assembly that allows for mounting of the gun handle by various means to a gun. A fore grip or gun handle, designed with ergonomic reasons in mind, provides a stable means of holding the gun. A plurality of legs that are concealed within the fore grip are coupled via a hinge to a spring piston assembly. A spring-loaded fulcrum release mechanism holds the piston assembly in a compressed and locked position. When the piston assembly is released upon activation of the spring-loaded fulcrum release mechanism, the legs are driven downwards by the piston and upon being released from the confinement of the fore grip are deployed outwards to a locked position by a hinge or pivot mechanism. The legs have feet that are designed so that, when the legs are concealed within the handle, the feet seal off the deployment and spreader mechanisms from entrance of any debris, material etc that may interfere with the deployment of the bipod.
The novel invention allows stands such as bipods to be able to cant (move to the left or right) as desired by the firearm operator.